Norway, Germany give $394 million to help African region

COPENHAGEN â€” Norway and Germany told an international donor conference Friday they are jointly giving 373 million euros to prevent a famine in the African countries around the Lake Chad Basin.

Norwegian Foreign Minister Brende who announced the Scandinavian country was giving 1.6 billion kroner ($192 million) over a three-year period, said there is “a serious humanitarian situation” in the region encompassing Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger.

“There is urgent need to stop the crisis unfolding in an area with 26 million people, “Brende said in Oslo, the Norwegian capital.

His German counterpart Sigmar Gabriel said Germany added 120 million euros ($127 million) while opening a one-day international donor conference to help secure funds to prevent a famine in the African region where about 11 million people have an acute need for relief.

The United Nations has launched a more than $1 billion appeal for Nigeria and the Lake Chad region that are enduring the worst humanitarian crisis in Africa.

“Twenty-six million people have been affected by Boko Haram and we must address the root causes,” Nigeria’s Foreign Minister Geoffrey Onyeama said, speaking about the extremist group that remains a serious threat to regional stability.

In Nigeria, a seven-year uprising by the Islamic extremist group has killed more than 20,000 people, driven 2.6 million from their homes and shocked the world with the abduction of nearly 300 schoolgirls